DB room talks improvements and adaptations so far during offseason

The defensive back room has been a big question coming into the off-season and spring, so fans have been eager to see how coach Shiel Wood and coach Rob Greene turn around the defensive side of the ball in their first season at Texas Tech.

Spring practice #7 was underway on Thursday, and four DBs spoke with the media afterward to discuss their thoughts on the spring season so far and what they are working towards.

Junior Brenden Jordan is coming into the season with high expectations for himself and his teammates and knows what is necessary to be successful in the fall.

"We have to just fly to the ball relentless effort to the ball," Jordan said. "A lot of times last year teams would have big plays on us, and a lot of those could have been minimized with guys running to the ball and just giving relentless effort.

I definitely want to be first team All Big 12 this year, make the Big 12 championship game, and have at least five plus picks for sure."

Coach Darcel McBath has been a big influence on this group of guys, especially with his NFL experience reflected in his coaching. Maurion Horn discusses what he wants his role to look like this year and what he can do to help him eventually play on Sundays.

"Just keep growing as a player and a human being," Horn said. "Becoming more of a leader... I'm an older guy now, so I gotta take the younger guys under my wing."

With a leadership role comes more accountability, and Horn takes the frustrations from last season as a chip on his shoulder to continue to improve.

"We're just going to make the plays that we didn't make last year," Horn said." Take what happened last year, build on top of it... as a player, it's gonna eat you up, especially if you were on that field. So we're all gonna build from it, learn from it, and grow."

Growing and learning are always the goals of a new season, and Miquel Dingle Jr. has taken this objective with the utmost seriousness heading into his sophomore year.

After finishing his first season as linebacker, he has now changed to DB, a conversation he had with the new defensive coaching staff before spring season started. It hasn't slowed him down but has encouraged him in a new position to use his strengths and contribute to his team in whatever way necessary.

"Just make the team better," Dingle said. "In any way possible to add value and take strain, anything that my team needs, that's what I want to be able to do for them.

I love being able to use my speed. I can jump really high, so I like being able to go for those 50/50 balls."

Another transfer waiting to make his presence known is Dontae Balfour, who came to Tech from Charlotte. Balfour collected All-AAC third-team honors after the 2024 season and came to Tech to show a conference like the Big 12 what he's capable of.

"I'm definitely bringing a lot of physicality to use my length to my advantage and to make plays," Balfour said. "I'm dialed in on the process, and I'm just very excited for what's coming up in the future."

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